Fresh Loaf

Community advocacy group Georgia STAND-UP will host a forum on Tuesday night for Atlanta mayor, City Council president and City Council District 11 candidates to say where they stand on such issues as economic development, affordable housing, transit and transportation and public safety, among others.

From Georgia STAND-UP:

The forum puts candidates (sequestered until their time slots) in the hot seat with questions addressing issues identified in a 6-month community-issues process led by Georgia STAND-UP and presented in the Community Issues Platform Report released on August 21st.

Unlike most candidate forums this election cycle, all mayoral hopefuls have been invited to participate in Tuesday night’s event. The forum, which is free and open to the public, starts at 5:30 p.m. and will take place at the IBEW Auditorium in Southwest Atlanta.

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Beltline officials have hit back at an all-volunteer citizen advisory group tasked with monitoring the $2.8 billion project — and have essentially accused it of trying to take control of the Beltline.

The accusation was raised after the Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee, or TADAC, recently questioned whether an upcoming bond issuance would adequately fund affordable housing and public art along the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit.

TADAC also said Beltline officials have been reluctant to disclose information that could help the group make better recommendations about how public funds are spent on the project, which will include new parks, trails and (hopefully) transit along with much-needed affordable housing and economic development incentives. (For an excellent report on TADAC’s concerns and how everyone got to this point, check out the Jim Walls article linked above. Hell, we’ll link to it again here.)

In the Sept. 10 letter to Atlanta City Council, Beltline officials said the citizen advisory group’s recommendations “propose expanding TADAC’s scope and responsibility to make it the governing and operating entity of the Beltline project.”

(more…)

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1. Atlantans mourn Frank Mullen (Beloved music photographer succumbs to cancer.)

2. Beltline CEO Terri Montague stepping down from project (A surprising move from the woman who’d been heading one of the largest public-works projects in recent Atlanta history.)

3. Ga. governor candidate John Oxendine loves ‘Confederate gray’ (Twittering candidate gives us a little too much information about his decorating taste.)

4. Beltline’s affordable housing program starts up despite shakeup, economy (Efforts are afoot to make sure us regular people can afford Beltline-proximate property.)

5. Craigslist dropping ‘erotic services’ category (Alt-weeklies rejoice! We’ve beat out Craigslist for smut ads.)

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No matter how green its parks, sleek its streetcars and well-maintained its bike trails, should the planned Beltline become a playground solely for the well-heeled, it will have failed at one of its core objectives.

From its beginnings, one of the most important initiatives of the $2.8 billion Beltline project has been to ensure that people of all incomes have an opportunity to live near or along the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit. And even more importantly, to prevent Atlanta from repeating the past mistake of sweeping out longstanding communities for the cause of revitalization.

With last November’s referendum to allow school systems to legally participate in redevelopment projects — and the Atlanta Public Schools’ recent decision to once again opt into the Beltline’s tax allocation district — the largest public works endeavor of its kind in the country is now moving closer to becoming a reality.

According to Beltline legislation, 15 percent of the taxpayer dollars used to fund the project — about $240 million — must be set aside for affordable housing. The goal: 5,600 affordable units distributed throughout Atlanta over the 25-year lifespan of the project’s TAD, its main funding source. The first round of that funding, totaling $8.3 million, is currently under way.

“Arguably, that’s the largest single pot of money for affordable housing in the city of Atlanta,” says Bruce Gunter, president and CEO of affordable-housing developer Progressive Redevelopment Inc., who’s pushed for mixed-income communities and work force housing for more than 20 years. “I remember when you couldn’t get diddly for affordable housing.”

But the program had the misfortune to kick off in the middle of the big real estate meltdown. And the advisory board tasked with helping guide the program was recently told of an unforeseen ethical snafu.
In December, Gunter, then chair of the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board, asked Ginny Looney, the city’s ethics officer, whether he and his fellow board members would be allowed to apply for the affordable housing incentive funds.

Continue reading “Beltline’s affordable housing program starts up despite shakeup, economy”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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One of the Beltline’s goals is that all Atlantans — regardless of income — will be able to enjoy the 22-mile ring of parks, trails and transit. Last week, the Atlanta Development Authority approved a set of recommendations that could help make that happen.

Andy Schneggenburger, executive director the Atlanta Housing Association of Neighborhood-based Developers and a member of the advisory board that wrote the recommendations, says the authority decided to offer incentives to developers who include community land trusts and energy efficiencies in their projects, as well as those who give city residents, Beltline-area residents and public-service employees first dibs. Developments that offer 10 percent of new housing units at rents affordable to Atlantans making less than $20,760 would win extra points in competing for Beltline grants.

Beltline leaders will vote on the recommendations this week before sending them to City Council.

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The Atlanta Development Authority today announced $1.5 million in low-interest loans for developers of multifamily housing who want to build affordable units.

The city’s got a long way to go toward Mayor Shirley Franklin’s goal of adding 10,000 affordable housing units in the city by 2009 — since 2005, however, Atlanta’s only seen the addition of 3,500 units. Today’s announcement may be the incentive some developers might need to pursue the vital component of a balanced urban environment in today’s market.

After the jump, view the city’s press release announcing the program. Details on how to apply for the incentives are included.

(more…)

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A Beltline advisory committee charged with ensuring the 22-mile project sticks to its vision of connecting Atlanta in an equitable manner told Beltline leaders the project should not spend a large chunk of its first allocation of funds on a vital piece of property that runs along Piedmont Park.

In a polite-yet-firm letter addressed to Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Terri Montague, Eugene Bowens, Sr., chair of the independent advisory committee, said the group could not agree with what’s looking to be a necessary move — use more than half estimated $122 million that will become available later in the year to pay off loans and debt for the land.

“TADAC is deeply concerned that using such a large portion of the bond proceeds in this way and for the Northeast quadrant alone is not equitable or appropriate and that other key BeltLine projects will be limited or deferred altogether,” Bowens says. “While TADAC acknowledges ABI’s need to be responsive to the dynamic and often unanticipated demands of the market, TADAC’s understanding of and limited involvement in the decision-making leading up to the transaction, together with the other concerns that are raised in this letter, prevent us from supporting the transaction (and its subsequent refinancing).”

The committee advises Beltline leaders to try to alter the financing deal, reduce funding for the northeast section of the Beltline that encompasses the property, and dedicate future sales of land to other parts of the Beltline.

The property is owned by Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son, Keith. ABI and Barry Real Estate entered a joint agreement to purchase the land after a prior deal with the father and son ended in the two walking away frustrated by the city.

The issue strikes at the core of the Beltline — using an ambitious project to not only connect all 45 neighborhoods along it, but also attempt to right past wrongs and revitalize areas of the city that have long languished in blight and watched progress blossom elsewhere. It also raises the question currently being debated by Beltline leaders, activists and the city as to what “equity” really means.

Beltline CEO Terri Montague was asked last night how she felt about the letter. She said she had only just received it and was not prepared to comment.

Full letter is pasted after the jump.

For background on the Mason property, click here. A May article explored how this issue would be a touchy one.

(more…)

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Atlanta Housing Authority Executive Director Renee Glover’s longtime wish is about to come true. It appears that four of the city’s last public housing projects — a total 1,200 affordable apartments — will soon come tumbling down.

This morning, the AJC published an op-ed by Glover in which she expressed confidence that Washington would grant permission to raze the few remaining public-housing projects in the city. According to a letter sent to the AHA today from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, permission for all but two of them has been granted. “I am pleased to approve your request to demolish,” the letter states.

In the op-ed, Glover wrote:

We anticipate quick approval for demolition of the remaining major projects: Bankhead Courts, Thomasville Heights, Hollywood Courts, Herndon Apartments, Palmer and Roosevelt. Those projects, together with Bowen, house about 2,400 households – families that can now look to bright futures in good neighborhoods.

When the last of those buildings comes down, we will have made history. (more…)

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Georgia Stand-Up, a nonprofit community activism group that raised awareness about Beltline-inspired gentrification with its eye-opening report last year, just released a study for policymakers and citizens alike about community engagement. It’s a great read. For more information about the report, click here.

There’ll be a lengthy post later about the organization’s event held today downtown. Beltline CEO Terri Montague made an appearance and addressed citizen concerns about displacement, public engagement, and progress on the Beltline.

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The push to make the Peachtree streetcar a reality continued its monthlong PR campaign Wednesday night just blocks from the very thoroughfare it promises to transform. A group of nearly 70 residents, business owners and students gathered around tables in one of AT&T’s mid-rise buildings on West Peachtree Street to not only hear details about the transit project, but lob criticisms as well.

Although most in attendance support the idea — even jokingly begging planners to start laying down track immediately — the biggest hurdle the effort must overcome is the funding strategy project leaders say will cover 75 percent of the $190 million cost.

That strategy — a tax hike on commercial and multifamily residential properties along the streetcar’s route — raises questions about how willing property owners will be to pay for the people mover.

Ray Christman, a former president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, is leading the project and says that after taxes, the owner of a $300,000 condo would really be paying $108-$252 a year, or 30 cents-69 cents a day. He also said project planners would push for an incentive program in which residents along the streetcar route could ride for free.

Streetcar advocates have been priming Atlanta City Council to consider the project early in March. The Council would have to approve that the tax district be drawn along the streetcar route. The General Assembly would have to pass legislation enabling the city to impose a parking tax. Christman says the state has “other issues more pressing” on its agenda at this moment, and the project’s advocates are not lobbying for such a move during the current legislative session.

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